AROUND Wales, emergency workers, nurses, doctors and rescuers put their normal lives on hold as they helped people caught up in the snow chaos.

AROUND Wales, emergency workers, nurses, doctors and rescuers put their normal lives on hold as they helped people caught up in the snow chaos.

Hospital staff working for the Cwm Taf Health Board in the South Wales Valleys spent the night on Thursday at hospitals or in nearby hotels to ensure health services could continue running.

District nurses completed their rounds on foot and fleet 4x4s helped ferry staff back and forth to the hospitals in the treacherous conditions.

Some hospital staff from Royal Glamorgan Hospital stayed over at the Llantrisant Premier Inn and around 50 more slept in the nearby hospital and at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

A spokeswoman for the Trust praised the dedication from the healthcare professionals, she said: “We’ve seen some great dedication from our staff today – they really have gone the extra mile to make sure patients are cared for.”

Mountain rescuers had also stayed the night at their base in Merthyr to ensure they were on hand if needed.

Penny Brockman, team leader of the Merthyr-based Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team, said: “Four members, including me, came in to the rescue base at Dowlais Top, overnight because we knew the conditions were going to be bad.

“Our 4x4s were ready to assist the ambulance. If they struggle to get to a front door we can take them and help transport them and the casualty to safety.”

The Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team covers a huge area between the Brecon Beacons, Cardiff and Newport.

In Bridgend, a dairy took a step back into the past when it used a tractor and a trailer to ensure customers, both shops and homes, received their morning pint.

The dedication of Ty Tanglwyst Dairy, owned by dairy farmer Rhys Lougher, 31, was rewarded when local Filco supermarket called for supplies as it’s normal suppliers had been unable to deliver.

Mr Lougher said: “We must’ve delivered thousands of bottles today.

“We’re lucky being a farm that we have the edge and can use the tractor.”

Across the Valleys, shop owners, workers and caring neighbours battled their way through the four-inch-deep snow across the region which had kept buses and cars largely off the roads.

Neighbours trudging through to shop for each other and looked out for the vulnerable with hot soup deliveries by 4x4s.

In many areas, the whiteout virtually pedestrianised the main roads apart from special and emergency vehicles though quad bikes came into their own.

But from early morning, people trudged down slippery bus routes, wrapped up and wellington booted, or towing sleighs bearing bags of shopping, rosy-cheeked children and similarly excited dogs.

Imran Manzoor, 32, manages Pentwynmawr’s only convenience store and had slid into the village after 6am taking 45-minutes for the usually 20 minute drive from Newport.

He said: “The roads weren’t too bad early this morning until we got to Crosskeys where the snow was thicker but by Abercarn it was like a different world and much more dangerous – we had to have help to push us sideways into a parking space!

“And we’ve been really busy – we’ve sold out of three days worth of milk in one go and can’t get replacements for all the vegetables and other stuff.

“But we’ve not seen a single gritter.”

A Range Rover enabled Urban Designs hairdresser Nigel Bailey to get in but he was scathing about the performance of Caerphilly council who announced that due to the snow their Ystrad Mynach HQ would remain closed until Monday.

He said: “I lost my brother Adrian in a car accident on icy roads 27 years ago, so I’m bitterly unimpressed not to have seen a single gritter, snow plough or any grit-stained snow when the council boasts on the radio about having put down 120 tonnes of salt and grit.

“How much gritting could we get done on the £30,000 pay rise the council’s chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan is getting?

“I don’t see any evidence that he’s done his job.

“The roads are atrocious but there are loads of people risking walking about to get the essentials for themselves and their neighbours.

“It’s frustrating that the council isn’t doing more in our neighbourhood – why haven’t they used their 4x4s to help people out?”

Sainsbury’s Pontllanfraith manager John Lloyd said the public had been panic buying from 7.30am Thursday in preparation for blizzards.

“They wiped us out of bread, milk and produce and Asda in Blackwood but we’re fully re-stocked now because all our overnight wagons got in before the snow fell.

“And with most of our staff being local, we’re open as usual and most people have just walked in rather than come by car.”

The treacherous roads meant a snow day off for Newport civil servant Craig Thomas and his nurse wife Sarah, and they made the most of their toboggans with their children Rebecca and George and their pal Ethan Davies.

Mr Thomas said: “The schools are closed which causes childcare issues and we’re unable to physically get into work though we’ve been able to do a few things from home.

“So we’re taking the opportunity to enjoy the snow.”

Carol Williams from Pentwynmawr said: “It hasn’t made life difficult – I love the snow and think it’s lovely and I’m quite capable of walking.”

In North and Mid Wales there was widespread delays and cancellations to bus services, particularly after a lorry jack-knifed on the A487 between Nebo and Pantglas.

A spokesperson for Traveline Cymru said between four and five inches of snow was reported along the road with travellers stuck for up to three hours.

The A470 between Dolgellau and Machynlleth was also closed for a time yesterday with buses severely delayed on the route.

Trains were also delayed across North and Mid Wales yesterday, though not as heavily as the region’s buses.

Also some families on the Llyn Peninsula, in Gwynedd, were left without power.

Cllr Liz Saville Roberts, who represents Morfa Nefyn, on the Llyn Peninsula, said families in the village of Edern in her ward had been without power.

North Wales Police advised motorists to take extra care with the worst of the snow falling across Gwynedd and Anglesey, in north west Wales.

Police said there had been a number of minor collisions in and around Caernarfon and Holyhead.

In Denbighshire, the Horseshoe Pass near Llangollen was closed yesterday afternoon as was Gwaenysgor Hill.

But it was a mixed picture in north east Wales – while there were widespread school closures in Denbighshire all schools in Flintshire were open.

Met Office spokeswoman Alexa Jones said some areas saw a complete white out with Sennybridge, in Powys, under almost 10ins.

And Miss Jones warned those areas where the snow had not been so severe could see some through yesterday evening.

She said: “It could come in later because it will get much colder. Places have had varying amounts.”

But despite the conditions the fire services in north and mid and west Wales said they had very few weather related incidents to deal with.

Last night, conditions deteriorated in some areas of North Wales, including Caernarfon and in Anglesey, where snow was ankle-deep after blizzards.

At snow-hit Bala in Gwynedd teachers had stayed overnight with relatives or friends to make sure the comprehensive school – Ysgol y Brenin – remained open for A-level exams.

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